


Snow globe

by AtPK



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M, eruri - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-07
Updated: 2015-11-07
Packaged: 2018-04-30 11:45:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5162681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AtPK/pseuds/AtPK
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>prompt: Erwin realises he's living in a snow globe and convinces his neighbour, Levi, to help him escape. ..</p>
            </blockquote>





	Snow globe

Erwin sat at the kitchen table for a full ten minutes, staring at the pie. After Marie had died he’d become something of a recluse and all his neighbours were now strangers to him. Well, all apart from Levi, who’d only just moved in opposite and had decided that Erwin was the go-to person when it came to any questions about the enclosed community. Erwin understood that it was probably because he was the only one not to riddle Levi with personal questions. To be honest, that was the reason he stopped talking to any of them in the first place. That, and the fact that he couldn’t take their sad pitying looks anymore.

Taking in a deep breath, he stood up and went to the cupboard; pulling out the clingfilm he covered the pie, and then headed for the door. It was a matter of a few yards to get to Levi’s front door and he knocked before he could talk himself out of it. It was several minutes more before Levi answered, and Erwin was just turning away.

Levi looked - interrupted.

“I’m sorry if I disturbed you.”

Levi shrugged. “I’m disturbed now, so what is it.”

Erwin smiled. He found Levi’s straight forward way of talking quite refreshing especially after living so long with a more reserved conservative crowd.

“I made a pie.”

Levi raised an eyebrow at him.

“What I mean to say is, my wife, she died.”

Now Levi frowned.

“I’m sorry for your loss.“ It was obvious from his tone that he was completely confused by why exactly Erwin was on his doorstep but he still added: “I’ve lost someone too.”

Erwin felt himself almost physically relax - it would make things easier that Levi at least understood that much. Erwin pointed at the pie.

“I haven’t got used to cooking for one yet, and there’s no way I can eat all of this on my own. If you haven’t got other plans, maybe you’d like to help me?”

Levi stared at him for a long, hard few heartbeats, and then he glanced quickly up and down the street; a few curtains shifted back into place at his inspection.

“I was never the one to cook,” he said eventually, stepping aside to let Erwin in. “It’ll make a nice change to microwave dinners.”

Erwin laughed thinking he was joking until he spotted the microwave dinner boxes and takeaway cartons in the waste bin.

It was a nice meal and both of them successfully avoided talking about their past lives, although Erwin would have been blind not to see the framed photos of Levi and another young man dotted strategically around the house.

“Perhaps, the next time I cook too much, you’d like to come over and help me eat it.”

“Don’t hold me too it.”

It was coming up to Christmas and the snow dusted everything in a quiet white. Erwin followed his footsteps back to his house and turned to wave at Levi who still stood on the threshold of his own. Levi nodded once and then closed his door.

The next time Erwin overcooked, true to his word he offered Levi to join him, and despite Levi’s previous dismissal, he came over without hesitation.

“Not still eating those microwave meals, are you?”

“I tried to make pasta but ended up burning the water.”

Erwin laughed, setting a place-mat in front of Levi, and handing him the cutlery.

“That’s something Marie would have done,” he said without thinking, and instantly regretted it, because the moment he said her name the pain rushed back anew and he felt the tears well up in his eyes.

“Yeah, Farlan used to laugh at me all the time too.”

Levi didn’t even look the slightest bit put out by Erwin’s sudden emotion, and Erwin had never felt so - accepted.

“What’s for dinner?”

The next time, Erwin put up a handwritten sign in the window: “I can’t eat this all on my own, can you come over?” but in time even that changed to simply: “Dinner’s ready.”

It was still coming up to Christmas and the carol singers were out in force, tormenting innocent upstanding members of the community with the barrage of goodwill. Erwin was dreading Christmas day, his first without Marie, and he knew it would be hard for him to not follow the same rituals they had always followed, only this year he’d be doing them alone.

Levi was stretched out on the sofa, wrapped up in one of Erwin’s blankets, watching an episode of something or other on the TV. They’d finished dinner about an hour ago and rather than heading straight back home, Erwin had asked Levi to stay a while. It was cold. Levi was cold. It only made sense to stay a while longer in the warmth. Levi didn’t even point out that he only lived ten paces across the way.

“Did you get the invite?” Erwin asked, as if it was nothing, holding the dish cloth in one hand, a glass in the other, and resting against the door-frame.

“From Mrs Dopperman?” Erwin nodded. “Yeah, I’m not going.”

“Hmm, that’s what I thought, but the thing is, if you don’t go to the party, they bring the party to you, literally. They knock on your door and when you answer they all come in and have the party in your house.”

Levi looked at him skeptically.

“I don’t like Christmas parties.”

“Me either,” Erwin intoned. “But if we go together, we stand a better chance of not being ambushed.”

“You have a point there, Smith.”

“I try to have them occasionally, but they give me headaches so mostly I try not to have them at all.”

“Fine,” Levi acquiesced, with a rare smile. “I’ll go with you to the stupid ass party.”

It was when he saw Erwin’s Xmas jumper however that he almost changed his mind entirely, practically turning around on the spot to go back into his house. Marie had always hated them too. It had become a challenge of his to always try and out do the horror of the year before. This year he’d obviously succeeded quite nicely.

“I’m not going anywhere with you dressed like that.” Levi threatened. In response Erwin turned on the little LED lights and they flashed merrily red and green.

“It’s Christmas Levi, get in the spirit.”

“Does drinking lots of spirits count as the same thing?”

Erwin pretended to think about it. “Sure,” he eventually agreed, offering his arm for Levi to take. Levi hesitated for a few moments longer and then took it.

“Lead on, oh you of the ugliest fucking jumper I’ve ever fucking seen.”

Erwin felt happier then he had in a long while. He felt like he actually wanted to buy Levi something to show his appreciation of the other man’s acceptance, and the whole time they were at the party, listening to all the happy, perfect couples, talk about their happy, perfect lives in their happy, perfect community, all he was really thinking about was what he could get Levi for Christmas.

A few days later however, when he did actually try to leave the gated community, for the first time, he realised with a start, since getting there, he found that the electronic gates wouldn’t open. The gate keeper came out, cap in hand, and apologetic smile on face.

“We’ve called the engineer, Mr Smith, they’ve assured us everything will be up and running again by tomorrow. I hope it wasn’t anything urgent?”

“Oh no, no, it’s nothing that can’t wait until tomorrow.”

But by the time tomorrow came, his desire to go outside had waned entirely and he was just comfortable to sit with Levi on the lawn out the back of his house and stare up at the night sky. It was still coming up to Christmas and the nights were clear, frostbitten. Levi cuddled into him, leeching his warmth, a small thing to offer to see Levi happy.

Erwin pointed out some of the constellations, but Levi wasn’t really interested. He leaned up on his elbow and looked at Erwin, his nose red from the cold, Erwin resisted the temptation to kiss it, and said: “Isn’t it about time you woke up?”

Erwin’s blood instantly ran cold, the goosebumps jumping up on his skin.

“What did you say?” he asked, his voice wavering.

“I said, isn’t it about time we went in; I’m freezing my arse off out here.”

Erwin stared at him for a few more silent breaths of frosted air, and then smiled and nodded.

It was still coming up to Christmas and when Erwin next went to the gate, it was still closed. The gate keeper was just as apologetic as ever, said that the gates had been working yesterday, it must have just been Erwin’s bad luck. Erwin smiled and nodded, and then turned the car around and headed straight for the other gate. He’d never used it before, and wasn’t entirely sure where it was, but after half an hour of skirting the edge of the wall, he had to admit defeat. He wasn’t getting out again today, and he was sure Christmas had to be next week.

“Levi, don’t you think it’s strange that everyone’s lights come on at exactly the same time, every night?”

Levi shrugged. “It gets dark, people switch their lights on.”

“Yes, but everyone puts their lights on, all the lights in the whole community go on at the same time, every night.”

Levi frowned at him.

“Are you ok?”

“I don’t know.” And he meant it. Ever since that night under the stars, he’d had a feeling that something wasn’t right.

“When is Christmas day?”

“Next week, I think. You’re the one with the calendar on the fridge.”

He did have a calendar on the fridge and Christmas day was circled in bright red, but he couldn’t remember the calendar ever being on any other month, always December, always it was coming up to Christmas.

“The constellations never change position,” he murmured. “The stars are always in exactly the same place in the sky, the moon is always full, there is always frost in the air. The carol singers always come, Mrs Dopperman always has her party.”

His voice was rising, as was his heart rate. Erwin was scared.

“You said, isn’t it about time I wake up?”

Levi stepped in close to him, a reassuring hand on his arm.

“Calm down, and tell me what you think is happening here.”

“I don’t know what’s happening.” Erwin moaned. For a very frightening moment he thought that maybe he’d actually had that breakdown that’d been looming over him since Marie’s death, but then - it didn’t make sense, because he was happy now, Levi had made him happy. “Will you come with me?”

“That depends on where we’re going?” Levi quipped.

“I want to buy you a Christmas present.”

Levi’s eyes danced with amusement. “You’d better make it a birthday present too,”

“You are born at Christmas?” Erwin asked. “No wonder you’re so special.”

“Good kind of special, I hope.”

“The best kind.”

Levi reached for the car keys in the little glass bowl on the shelf by the door.

“Let’s go.”

Erwin felt heavy, like something was physically weighing him down, and the feeling only got worse the closer they got to the gate. His limbs were weak. His head pounded. He was sure he was going to throw up.

“You’re sick,” Levi said, worry in his voice. “We should go back home, and put you to bed.”

It sounded like the best idea he’d ever heard and the call of his bed was so tempting that he almost backed down.

“Please Levi, I just want to go outside the gates.”

Levi looked worried but he settled back into his seat.

“Are you sure about this?”

“About what?”

“I don’t know, do you?”

“No,”

“Well, that makes two of us that don’t know shit, but we’re still heading straight for it.”

Erwin didn’t slow the car. He could see the gate coming up ahead. And then the blinding pain in his head and the bright lights in the sky made him swerve and they would have plunged into the ditch if Levi hadn’t grabbed the wheel and slammed his foot down on the peddle. They crashed through the gate and the globe shattered, shards of glass tumbling in candyfloss slowness down around them.

The car was gone. They were falling. He reached out for Levi and Levi smiled at him.

“It’s time to wake up.”

Erwin jerked awake, the beep of the heart monitor loud in his ears, the breathing tube in his throat making him gag and choke. There was a hand on his shoulder, holding him down as the tube was removed. A glass of water was put into his shaking hand and the steady one helped him bring it to his mouth. Once he’d drunk his fill he sat back against the pillows and looked at the man who’d been helping him.

“Levi,” he rasped.

Levi looked taken aback, but he recovered quickly. “I’m Dr Ackerman. Do you know where you are?”

Erwin shook his head.

“You were in an accident. You’ve been in a coma.”

“Is it coming up to Christmas?” he asked.

“It was, when you had your accident. It passed several months ago now.”

“Was it bad, the accident?”

“You lost your arm,” Levi replied, as straight forward as ever.

Erwin smiled.

Levi once again looked out of his depth.

It was strange to see him in a white hospital coat, professional and efficient.

“You were very lucky.”

“I guess I had a good doctor.”

Levi licked his lips and then busied himself checking monitors and taking Erwin’s blood pressure.

“Thank you Levi, for saving me.”

“You’re welcome.”

Erwin strongly suspected, given how his subconscious had created such an incredible duplicate, that Levi had spent many of his evenings by Erwin’s bed, talking to him, trying to help him find his way back. Erwin didn’t know why the other man would have done such a thing for a perfect stranger, but Erwin did know that he had fallen in love with Levi for doing it.

“I hope you’ll let me make it up to you,”

Levi stared at him.

“No one came to visit you.”

Erwin heard the question and also had his answer.

“I don’t have anyone.”

Levi continued to stare at him, his gaze steady and also a little hopeful; or maybe that was just Erwin hoping.

“Thank you for keeping me company.”

“You’re welcome.” Levi said again, not even trying to deny it. “How do you plan on making it up me?”

Erwin smiled.


End file.
